PhD defence L. (Loes) de Veld

Summary:

The care of adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication forms an essential part of the care for adolescents and contributes to the transition of adolescents to healthy adults. In this thesis, several aspects of the Dutch policy approach of adolescent alcohol intoxication have been studied: prevention (section 1), acute treatment (section 2), and outpatient follow-up (section 3).  

Section 1 consists of four chapters about the prevention of adolescent alcohol intoxication. Several risk factors and determinants of adolescent alcohol intoxication have been studied in these chapters: age at first alcohol use, birth order, time of day variation, and alcohol-specific parental rule-setting. 

Section 2 consist of two chapters that focus on the results of an acute diagnostic measure used in the initial treatment of adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication: urine toxicology screening and electrocardiogram. The results of the study to results of toxicology screening demonstrates that 11.8% of the adolescents admitted for acute alcohol intoxication tested positive for illicit drug use. The research on echocardiograms recorded during acute alcohol intoxication shows that approximately 10% of the adolescents have prolongation of a specific interval, namely the QTc. Although QTc-prolongation can potentially result in arrhythmias, this was not observed in the study population. 

Section 3 consists of two chapters about the outpatient follow-up of adolescents admitted with acute alcohol intoxication. The participation rate of the outpatient program is higher than 91%, making it a valuable moment to screen for risk factors and underlying psychological disorders increasing the risk of continuation of binge drinking.